Within the simulation of India on the Eve of Independence in 1945, I was assigned to undertake the role of Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru was a Hindu leader of the Indian National Congress, or INC, which was founded to achieve Indian independence. As a high ranking individual in one of the most prominent governmental factions in India, many of his beliefs are voiced to the masses, such as those on socialism, industrialization, a strong military, and fixing rural poverty. For instance, Nehru felt that a strong centralized government forged around the ideals of European socialism will build a successful nation rather than capitalism, which leads to overproduction, unemployment, and economic collapse. Throughout the simulation, many of Nehru’s goals were centered around these ideals and his motivation to make change. This determination can be seen from “Economic Development and Nonalignment”, a speech Nehru gave in Washington D.C., where he exclaimed “We are now engaged in a gigantic and exciting task of achieving rapid and large-scale economic development of our country. Such development, in an ancient and underdeveloped country such as India, is only possible with purposive planning”. The first goal of this planning was to convince the British to turn over the machinery of government, such as government buildings, weaponry, and taxation, to the INC. Then, the INC would be able to forge a strong centralized government centered around modernization and industrialization, which Nehru felt would benefit all categories of citizens throughout the newly unified India. With this newly found control, Nehru hoped to create widespread industrialization throughout the unified India. When formulating these proposals, Nehru commonly drew inspiration from Stalin’s methods of government into his own political ideology. A statement which accurately represents this connection can be found in a passionate speech which Joseph Stalin presented at the Soviet Union’s First Conference of Workers in 1931. Within it, Stalin stated that “We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this difference in ten years. Either we do it, or we shall be crushed”. Similar to Stalin, Nehru felt that India must compete industrially with the western countries if they wanted to succeed on a global scale. As a result, Nehru enacted India’s first Five Year Plan, drawing further reference from Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union’s portrayal of the same concept. The main purpose of the first Five Year Plan was to construct and begin to solidify a strong Indian economy through taking advantage of the country’s abundance of natural resources. From this, Nehru hoped the Indian economy would begin to take the form of mixed economy through the emphasis of agriculture while also launching the beginning stages of true industrialization in the country. As a result of these plans, Nehru hoped that the newly constructed industrialization and modernization would allow for new job opportunities and, in turn, begin to diminish one of the largest problems currently facing India, poverty. Overall, Nehru’s main goal throughout the simulation was to gain total control of the government for the INC through the role of the new prime minister. With this newly accomplished role, Nehru hoped to spread industrialization throughout India through the Five Year Plans. A quote which encompasses these objectives can be found in Nehru’s book, Whither India, where he states that “The long course of history shows us a succession of different forms of government and changing economic forms of production and organization. The two fit in and shape and influence each other”. In conclusion, within the simulation, Nehru was an extremely influential character who looked to gain control of the government from the British, unify India, and forge widespread industrialization throughout the nation.
Due to the nature of the Governors General’s newly ratified constitution, there were many factions who achieved few, or various, victory objectives. One important instance of this can be found in Article I where the Muslim League was granted Pakistan as their own independent nation. Within the article, it states that “Pakistan shall be separated from the nation of India and shall become its own nation with its own constitution. They shall adhere to no laws under the INC but only the laws which regard to their own constitution”. This was extremely important to the Muslim League as they were looking to separate themselves from the nation of India due to the suppression of their religion by the Hindu majority virtually the whole game. For instance, Ali Jinnah once stated in the “Presidential Address to the All India Muslim League” that “It is extremely difficult to appreciate why our Hindu friends fail to understand the real nature of Islam and Hinduism”. Therefore, this victory objective was crucial to the success of the Muslim League as a whole. Another example of this which greatly influenced the game can be found through the INC gaining control of the federal government where the voting is by majority vote with no reserved seats for minority populations. This can be seen in Article II where it is stated that “Muslim and Sikh religious minorities will not have reserved seats in the Federal Legislature. There will be a grand total of 543 seats. All members of the INC shall receive a reserved seat. An election will be held in order to select a president of the legislature”. This was crucial to the INC’s success as throughout the game, their main goal was to rule India through a democracy with a central government where, with 74% of the Indian subcontinent consisting of Hindus, most of their legislature would prevail due to majority rule. As Nehru, I began as second in command of the INC, but later left the faction and joined the Communist Party of India, or CPI, due to internal conflict on the grounds of the prevalence of industrialization and religion. Unfortunately, this choice turned out to be the wrong decision as the INC gained the majority of their victory objectives while the CPI achieved little to none. As the CPI, we did succeed in swaying one village leader to our cause that aided us in conquering the princely state of Hyderabad, which is entirely the CPI’s at the moment according to Article VIII of The Constitution of the Indian National Congress. Overall, I believe that the INC and the Muslim League were the most successful factions during the “Defining a Nation” Simulation where sadly, I as Nehru and the rest of the CPI were left with minimal gains. If I were to have stayed with the INC, I would have been able to achieve a notable amount of victory objectives.
Based on how the simulation ended, it can be assumed that Nehru and the rest of the CPI would be subject to a multitude of anger from the opposing factions and, inevitably, a war which would be lost by the Communists. Due to the fact that the CPI was successful in their acquisition of the princely state of Hyderabad, the INC as well as the Maharaja of Kashmir became extremely disgruntled with Nehru and the Communist Party. As a result, both factions planned to assist each other in removing us from Hyderabad, but were technically not allowed due to the newly founded constitution. Despite this, it is stated in the treaty between the INC and the Princely States that the Maharaja of Kashmir reserves the right to declare war on anyone they see fit with the INC’s approval. Because of this, there is a high chance that, since the British Governing Generals left, the INC and the Maharaja of Kashmir will band together to reclaim the state of Hyderabad from Nehru and the Communist Party. In turn, the CPI and its members would be subject to imprisonment, exile, or even death. A quote which showcases the negative repercussions which may affect Nehru and the CPI in the near future can be found in Gandhi’s weekly journal, “Young India”. In it, he explains that “I have a living faith in unity coming. It must come even if it has to do so after a few pitched battles. If there are men who will fight, nobody on earth can prevent them”. Therefore, the future for Nehru and the CPI looks incredibly bleak due to the conquest of the state of Hyderabad and the constitution’s favoritism towards the INC and the Maharaja of Kashmir.
In conclusion, I have learned many things within this simulation which will aid my success in other classes as well as connect to present day events. From studying India at the cusp of finding its independence, I have learned a tremendous amount of how difficult it is to make decisions in a political climate. The session can be directly connected to the United States’ government as republicans and democrats are forced to compromise each day on issues such as immigration and foreign affairs just as the Muslim League and INC compromised on religion and Pakistan. This is extremely important to learn as it gives an insight into how the government comes to make its decisions which is crucial to know as, without this knowledge, citizens would not be as in tune with governmental affairs as they are today.. I also believe that this simulation will aid me in my other classes due to the public speaking aspect helping me with my presentations and the research aspect helping me find and analyze material, especially primary sources. What I have learned in this unit has also affected me personally as I feel extremely more comfortable with public speaking. Before taking this class, I was always nervous when assigned with a presentation or speech, but now I am more excited knowing that I am confident in what I am saying. Overall, this simulation will fit into the larger framework of life-long learning as I will ultimately be better at finding accurate research and speaking in front of people for the rest of my education and work career due to what I have learned in this class.